"Painter with a Purpose!"

In New York there is a huge craze about the amazing portrait artist by the name of Kehinde Wiley. Born and raised in South Central, Wiley found a passion for creating Contemporary portraits which details young urban African American men in a visual rhetoric of the heroic, opulent, & powerful light.

Many of the men that he Wiley choose to paint consist of young urban men that he encounters or see while walking through urban cities. Not only does he choose his subjects randomly but he also pays them, just so that he is able to recreate them in a historical light of Classical and Contemporary Art. He has also become a contributor to the VH1 Hip - Hop Honorees Awards by creating portraits of the greats consisting of Biggie, Big Daddy Kane, Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, Ice Tea, LL Cool J, and Salt N Pepa.



For Wiley he's just touching the peak of what he intends to accomplish while making more people open minded and believing in themselves to create the unseen and unheard of. You will be able to view and see more of Wiley's work at his website http://www.kehindewiley.com or purchase his books Kehinde Wiley - Columbus & Kehinde Wiley - The World Stage: China.